Locking-nut.



D. 0. WARD.

LOOKING NUT.

APPLICATION FILED 113.27. 1911.

1,041,920, Patented Qct.22,1912.

onirica DANIEL 0. WARD, 0F OAK PARK, ILLINOIS.

LOCKING-NUT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct.. 22, 1912.

Application led February 27, 1911. SeriaI No. 611,016.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that l, DANieI. O. WARD,

a citizen of the United States, residing at. county of (look, State of Illino1s,

Oak Park, have invented a certain new and useful lm- .provement in Locking-Nuts, and declare they following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying'drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object to produce a locking nut which shall be simple and practically as cheap as a plain nut, and which may be used indefinitely, its capacity for locking being unimpaired by unscrewing it from its complementary member.

My invention has for a further object to produce a locking nut which will hold itself securely at any point along a bolt or the like while, in starting on the bolt, it runs freely so that it may be started with the fingers.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims: but for a full understanding or my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a central section taken through a nut, showing the condition of the nut aftery` it has been threaded in the usual way and is ready to be given its locking charactersimilar to Fig. l,

1st-ic; Fig. 2 is a view illustrating the nal step in the production of the nut; Fig. 3 is a plan view ofthe nut; Fig. 4: is a section through a modified' form of nut and Fig. 5 a plan view of the contracting ring used therein; and Fig. V6 is a side view of a bolt having thereon a nut arranged in accordance with my invention, the nut being shown in section.

Referring to Figs. 1 to-3 of the drawing, A represents a nut of any suitable form having a threaded aperture B extending therethrough from the bottom face C tothe top of face D. use the term bottom to designate the face at that end of the nut intowhich the end of the boltis inserted, the top face being the face on the other side. Before the nut is tapped, I form in its top face a channel or groove, preferably an anl ing action of the two parts nular channel E which surrounds the opening in the nut and is spaced apart therefrom so as to produce a thin annular wall F around the upper end ofthe opening, and lying wholly beneath the adjacent face of the nut. 'The nut -is then tapped in the usual way as shown in Fig. l. l then bend inthe annular wall so as to change the characteristics of one or more of the threads adjacent to the top face of the nut. This may conveniently be accomplished by placing the nut in a on top thereof a die G having an annular depending flange g, which is adapted to enter the channel and press radially upon the exterior of the annular wall so as to reduce it in diameter; thus decreasingthe diameter of the threaded aperture at this point. The inward pressure on -the wall may be produced in any suitable way, but prefer to taper either the side walls of the channel in the nut or the corresponding walls of the flange on the die, thus exerting a wedging action upon the annular wall in the radial direction when the die is forced home. ln the arrangement shown,thechan nel is rectangular in cross'section and the die-flange is tapered. The smallest vinterior diameter of the annular flange of the die is less than the external diameter of the annular wall so that, as the die descends, the metal of the wall is compressed inwardly and reduces the diameter of that portion of the screw-threaded aperture inclosed by the wall. rThis is the condition illustrated in Fig. 2, H being the threads throughout the body of the nut and representing, one or more screw threads near the top which have a smaller diameter than the remaining threads. As will be seen in Fig. 8 the annular wall F is slotted at diametrically opposed points as indicated at f. Consequently. when the die descends, the two sections of the wall are pressed against each other, threads being produced'by thesimple bendlof the annular wall.

llnl Figs. 4 and 5, l have shown a modification. Instead of die-forging the @wall F ofthe nut in Fig. 1 so as to decrease the 'diameter of the threaded opening at the mouth thereof, I force a ring P into the channel E; the ring being thick enough or wide enough to produce the requisite contraction of the wall in the radial direct-ion.

press and bringing down ln this arrangement the ring forms a solid bachng for the wall; thus causing the locking 'threads it to take a tight grip on the threads on a bolt, and permitting the nut to be unscrewed from a'bolt an indefinite number of times without having its locking characteristic impaired.,

In each torni of nut which l have illustrated, the nut may be screwed easily upon a bolt, just as any ordinary nut, until the end of the bolt reaches the threads whose characteristics have been changed. lit this point a binding action takes place between the latter threads and the threads of the bolt so that considerable resistance is odered to turning the nut in either directionu This resistance is not so great as to prevent the 'nut from being screwed home by means of a suitable wrench, but it is great enough to prevent the nut from backing up accidentally after it has reached its final position.

ln Fig. 6, R represents a bolt and A a nut I arranged in accordance with my invention.

In the condition of the parts illustrated, the nut has been partially screwed upon the Vend of the bolt, the threads r onthe bolt being about to encounter the loclring threads it. 'il to this peint the nut has had a loose t upon the bolt; but a further turning of the nut will bring the threads on the bolt into engagement with the locking threads of the nut and considerable torce must be applied to turn the nut against the considerable frictional resistance between the locking threads of the nut and the threads of the bolt. rlhe nut can readily be turned by means of a suitable wrench or other power device, but grips the bolt tightly enough to prevent accidental displacement.

It will thus be seen that l have provided a simple and ecient locking nut which requires no special tools tor edecting the locking, because certain of its threads normally have different characteristics from the rated threads of the nut. Not. only is there con- Y venience of application and certainty of locking, but a nut may be used over and pver without having its locking character impaired. Furthermore, the locking characteristic of the nut is produced without materially increasing the cost above the cost .pf an ordinary plain nut; because the lock- Ying character is given to the nut during the 'course of manufacture and requires but one simple operation in addition to the usual operatlons necessary to make a nut. While the channels or grooves may be cut in the incasso nuts, it will of course be understood that they may he punched or rolled in the bar while forming it, or pressed into the nut blank and, therefore, the only extra operation required is that of placing the nuty after tapping into 'one additionall press which either forges the annular wall or forces a ring or wed e in place behind it.

While l ave illustrated and described only the preferred forms of my invention, l do not desire to be limited to the exact details illustrated and described, but intend to cover all forms of my invention which fall within the terms employed in the denitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

l claim:

l. As an article of manufacturaa nut having a screw-threaded aperture extending therethrough from face to face, there being an annular channel surrounding and spaced apart from said aperture in the face of the nut last to pass upon a coperating bolt, said i channel producing a thin annular wall about "said aperture, said wall being divided at one or more points, :and a,ring pressed into and lying normally in said channel, said ring and said channel being so proportioned that the entry of the ring into the channel bends the parts of the divided wall inwardly so as to reduce the size ot the screw-threaded eperture in that portion bounded by the wal 2. As an article of manufacture, a nut havi ing a screw-threaded aperture extending therethrough from face to face there being in one tace ot the nut an annular channel surrounding the aperture and spaced apart therefrom so as to produce a narrow annular inner wall lying below the face of the nut and immediately surrounding said aperture and an outer Wall surrounding and spaced apart from the inner wall, said inner wall being divided at one or more points, and said outer wall being continuous so as to form a rigid abutment for a wedging member adapted to enter said channel and bend the sections ofthe inner wall inwardly to reduce the size ot the screw-threaded aperture throughopt that portion bounded by the inner wall.

ln testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

y DANIEL U. ARD. Witnesses z Anonm L. JOHNSON, Enw. l. Rumeur. 1 

